Islam
deals with man’s life in four categories of rights and
obligations

It is
an established fact that Islam is a way of life, a complete
guidance for the whole of mankind covering all aspects of
life. Islamic law or Fiqh is not confined only to civil and
criminal matters, it also deals with administrative,
economics, and social, national and international affairs.
Fiqh is the knowledge, the discipline, and the science of the
rights and obligations of man, and what is good and evil for
him individually and collectively. Thus, the scheme of life
which Islam envisages consists of a set of rights and
obligations, and every human being who accepts this religion
has to live by them. Broadly speaking, the law of Islam deals
with man’s life in four categories of rights and
obligations, or relationships: (i) man’s relationship with
God, his Creator, (ii) his relationship with himself, or his
own rights upon himself, (iii) his relationship with other
people, and (iv) his relationship with his natural
environment, or in other words, the rights of those resources
which God has placed within his power and has allowed him to
use for his benefit.

Man
is an instinctive worshipper, although the nature of the
deity worshipped or the way it is worshipped differ.

Man is
an instinctive worshipper, although the nature of the deity
worshipped or the way it is worshipped differ. God’s love
abides in every person’s heart. Creatures by the nature of
their being created have to submit to their Creator, and all
creatures including man as a ‘biological entity’, are thus
Muslims and have to obey the rules of creation willy nilly.
Having established that God is in reality the natural deity to
be worshipped by man, the Qur’an explains the right way to
worship Him. It stipulates the uniformity of worship just as
it stresses the unity of God, the unity of the worshipped, and
the unity of worship. There must be unity between man’s
worship and his attitude towards life. The deity addressed by
man in his prayer and devotion is the same deity addressed
while studying, earning a living, and in attempting to better
conditions on earth. It is the same God applied to while
eating, drinking, while communicating with his family, with
other individuals, with other societies, peoples and states,
whether in peace time or war: “Say: ‘Lo, my worship and my
service and behavior, my living and my dying are for God, Lord
of the worlds.” In all that he does, the constant
reiteration of God’s name in his heart has the practical
effect on recalling to him God’s commands and his individual
and social responsibilities.

When
this happens, something of considerable significance has
occurred in a man’s life. The regular worship during his
span of life provides man with an extraordinary spirit. The
prescribed daily prayers (salat), for instance, consist in
repeating and refreshing five times a day the belief in which
he reposes his faith. The times of salat-dawn, noon,
afternoon, evening and night, correspond with the five periods
of man’s life, namely childhood and youth, age of maturity,
old age, death, and life after death until the Resurrection.
Dawn of the next day signifies the Resurrection, so each day
is a complete cycle of man’s whole life in parallel with the
life of the world. During each time of worship, a Muslim
dissociates himself from his worldly engagements for a few
moments, cleanses himself and presents himself before his
Lord, seeking audience before Him. By reciting from the Holy
Scripture he is elevated into a state as if he were receiving
it directly from the Lord of the worlds. He asks Him again and
again to enable him to follow His Chosen Path, refreshes his
belief in all the pillars of faith and enlivens his memory
with the fact that he has to appear before his Lord and give
an account of his entire life. He unburdens himself to Him and
begs His succor for all the difficulties in which he is
entangled in life. Thus, the daily prayers strengthen the
foundations of his faith, prepare him for the observance of a
life of virtue and obedience to God, and refresh the belief
from which spring courage, sincerity, purposefulness, purity
of the soul, and enrichment of morals. The Qur’an states
that “daily prayers (salat) prevent a Muslim from committing
vices of every kind” (29:45), and the Holy Prophet regards
it to be the (spiritual) ascension of a Muslim to the holy
presence of God.

Then,
again, a Muslim must perform his daily prayers in congregation
and especially so the Friday prayers. This creates among the
Muslims a bond of love and mutual understanding. This arouses
in them a sense of their collective unity and fosters among
them feelings of fraternity. All of them perform their prayers
in one congregation and this inculcates in them a deep feeling
of brotherhood. Prayers are also a symbol of equality, for the
poor and the rich, the ‘low’ and the ‘high’, the
rulers and the ruled, the educated and the unlettered, the
black and the white, all stand in one row and prostrate before
their Lord. They also inculcate in them a strong sense of
collective discipline and obedience to the leader of the
community. Prayers train the Muslims in all those virtues
which make possible the development of a rich individual and
collective life.

Islam
regards man as God’s vicegerent and cannot tolerate his
degradation by his submission to any kind of humiliation
or oppression.

Islam
regards man as God’s vicegerent and cannot tolerate his
degradation by his submission to any kind of humiliation or
oppressive powers. Islam is the real way to freedom and
liberation. It is the religion which invites man to struggle
against oppression and tyranny for his freedom and dignity.
So, by prostrating before God alone, a Muslim declares that he
does not bow down to any other power whatsoever. Islam is the
way to real freedom, one which allows no serfdom, promises all
men freedom, and independence in thought, action, property and
religion, and safeguards man’s integrity as well his honor
and dignity. Islam also frees man from the captivity of his
lusts; sensual pleasures should not tempt and corrupt him.
Drinking, permissiveness, gambling, night clubs, mixed social
activities, bad movies, fornication and adultery, sex outside
marriage, pornography, overspending, conspicuous consumption,
arrogance, greed, etc. are all the humiliating factors for him
which take his honor and dignity away and have been used by
all kinds of colonialism, exploitation and imperialism. It is
the daily prayer and other forms of worship such as
alms-giving (zakat), which inculcate in man the will to
struggle against all aspects of self-degradation.

Cardinal
causes for social convulsions and disruptions

As
pointed out by a contemporary Muslim thinker, two cardinal
causes for social convulsions and disruptions are: (i) the
idea that “let everyone work so that I could eat” and (ii)
the thought that “it does not interest me if others die of
hunger so long as I am full.” Islam eliminates the first of
these vices through the ban of all kinds of transactions based
on ‘interest and usury’, and the second through the
command to pay zakat. Zakat is the bridge between the various
economic levels of the society.

Zakat
is the Islamic obligation which every Muslim whose financial
situation is above a certain specified minimum must pay. The
purpose of giving zakat is to gain God’s approval, and this
is possible by serving people.

The
money that we pay in zakat is not something God needs or
receives. He is above any need or desire. He, in His benign
mercy, promises the alms-givers manifold rewards, but there is
one basic condition for being thus rewarded, and it is that
when we pay in the name of God, we should not expect any
worldly gains from the beneficiaries, nor aim at making our
names as philanthropists. God says in the Qur’an:

Those
who expend their wealth in the way of God (to help the
poor) then follow not up what they have expended with
reproach and injury, their wage is with their Lord, and
no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow.
Honorable words, and forgiveness, are better than the
alms followed by injury; and God is All-sufficient,
All-clement. (2:262-263)

Zakat
is as basic to Islam as other forms of worship, salat (the
five daily prayers) and sawm (fasting). Its fundamental
importance lies, in addition to its economic and social
function, in the fact that it fosters in the Muslim qualities
of sacrifice and rids him of selfishness and avarice.

The
Muslim society has immensely to gain from the institution of
zakat. It is the bounden duty of every well-to-do Muslim to
help his lowly-placed, poor brethren. His actual wealth, and
his share in it is very small when compared to the direct
gifts of God such as the sun, rain, earth, and natural
resources, so it is not to be spent solely on his own comfort
and luxury -there are other rightful claimants upon his
wealth, and they are the nation’s widows and orphans, the
poor and the sick; those who have ability but lack the means
to make their living, and those who have the faculties and
intelligence but not the money with which they could become
useful members of the community. Islam regards it as a great
injustice to fill up one’s own stomach and coffers while
thousands die of hunger or suffer the agonies of unemployment.
Islam is severely opposed to such selfishness and greed. In
Islam one shares one’s wealth with others and helps them
stand on their own feet and become productive members of the
society.

Islam
was born with the unique feature of amalgamating the
secular with religious, the worldly with the
other-worldly, and with a clear approach to socio-economic
affairs and with a well-defined administrative system

With
Islam, as stated by the famous Italian orientalist Dr. Laura
Veccia Vaglieri,

The
spirit was liberated from prejudice, man’s will was
set free from the ties which had kept it bound to the
will of other men, or other so-called hidden powers,
priests, false guardians of mysteries, brokers of
salvation; all those who pretended to be mediators
between God and man and consequently believed that they
had authority over other people’s wills, fell from
their pedestals.

Because
the Unity of God embraces all other unities, this
religion was born with the unique feature of
amalgamating the secular with religious, the worldly
with the other-worldly, and with a clear approach to
socio-economic affairs and with a well-defined
administrative system.

Man
became the servant of God alone and towards other men he
had only the obligations of one free man towards
another. While hitherto men had suffered from the
injustices of social differences, Islam proclaimed
equality among human beings. Each Muslim was
distinguished from other Muslims only by his greater
fear of God, his good deeds, and his moral and
intellectual qualities. (Apologia dell Islamismo, pp.
33-34).

The
most important and fundamental principle in Islam, as often
pointed out in this book, is the doctrine of Monotheism.
Monotheism in Islam is not only a theological principle but it
is the cornerstone of Islamic epistemology and the most basic
principle of the methodology of Islam and all Islamic studies.
According to this principle, authority, judgment and power
belong to God. This doctrine liberates the whole of humanity
from all sorts of domination, and every kind of intermediary
and subjugation, and provides Muslims with a strong sense of
independence. This doctrine, together with the Islamic
principle of ‘Amr bi’l-ma’rouf ve‘n-nahy ani’l-munkar’
(the duty of enjoining, spreading and encouraging good and
forbidding evil) provides Muslims with the legal, spiritual,
social, theological and ethical justification to establish a
Divine order.. Islam never approves imperialism, dictatorship,
colonialism, oppression, tyranny, power politic,
authoritarianism, totalitarianism, theocracy, oligarchy and
monarchy.

Main
principles of Islamic way of administration

The foremost feature of the Islamic administration is
that its subjects should have implicit faith in God,
and it should be clearly understood that Government
has no absolute power over them, nor are they its
slaves.

The main objective of the Islamic administration is to
establish and promote the virtues approved by God as
well as prevent and suppress the vices disliked by
Him. It is for this reason that righteousness and
respect for God should be displayed in the character
of the head of the Islamic government. Government
employees, judges and military officers should imbibe
this spirit and, in turn, infuse it into the Muslim
society.

The rule of the law is indispensable to an Islamic
social order. The Holy Prophet of Islam was sent with
the Book, the Constitution of a Muslim community, and
the Balance, the Divine standard in conformity with
which Authority puts the Book into practice so that
the people subsist by absolute justice. Nobody could
be above the law in a Muslim society, nor could they
transgress its limits. It should be enforced for all
without any discrimination, the courts being free from
outside pressure. History has witnessed that most of
the Muslim caliphs set up the best examples, adhering
to this principle. In spite of enjoying more powers
than kings of the past and presidents of the present,
they adhered strictly to the law. Friendship and
nepotism never induced them to ignore the prescribed
rules and regulations, nor did their personal
displeasure cause harm to any one against the cannons
of the Islamic Law.

Men
make their own history and are responsible for their own
condition individually and socially

Justice and the rule of the Law being the foremost
articles of the Islamic constitution, it falls to the
subjects to obey the government since Islam is
strictly opposed to anarchy and social disorder. This,
however, does not mean that the subjects must obey
their rulers in every instance. The Prophet is
reported to have said: “There is no obedience in sin”,
but the failure to obey does not mean it is necessary
to break out in revolt against the government. Rather
it means that Muslim individuals of the community are
responsible for their own felicity and salvation. “God
does not change the state of a people unless they
change themselves.” Men make their own history and
are responsible for their own condition individually
and socially, thus advice and preaching should always
come before revolt.

Another important article in this constitution is the
establishment of an advisory system of government.
Advice of the learned, of pious persons and persons of
sound judgment and expert knowledge enjoying the
confidence of the people is always to be sought, and
these persons, in turn, are expected to speak out and
express their opinions according to the dictates of
their conscience with precision and integrity. This
advisory system is so important to a Muslim community
that God speaks of the first, exemplary Muslim
community as “a community whose affair is by counsel
between them” (42:38) in praise of them. This
importance becomes more explicit when the fact that
this first community was led by the Prophet himself is
taken into consideration, who “never spoke out of
caprice and on his own authority but spoke what was
revealed to him by God” (53:2-3). God again shows
the importance He attaches to the advisory system or
counsel by ordering His beloved Messenger (peace be
upon him) to counsel with his companions in the affair
(3:159) Even after the reverse the Muslims experienced
at the Battle of Uhud due to the disobedience of some
Muslims’ soldiers to the Prophet’s orders, He
instructs it. The Prophet and his rightly-guided
successors never avoided counsel where and when it was
necessary. Thus, counsel is one of the cornerstones of
an Islamic government.

Many
affairs are settled through counsel or consultation in
Islam. A judge settles through consultation a case
about which he cannot arrive at an established verdict
in accordance with the Qur’an and the Sunna, thus
consultation, like ijtihad and analogy, is one way of
reaching a judgment. Further, any punishment which is
of a secondary nature, and not explicitly decreed in
the Qur’an and the Sunna can be given by the judge
after consultation with authoritative Muslim jurists.

Formation of government with free consent, in other
words, free consultation of the people, is one of the
basic principles of Islamic constitution. Nobody
should employ force to secure power for himself. The
people should entrust power to the best among the
candidates after consultation among themselves, and
each of the true successors to the Prophet came to
power according to this prescribed procedure. Although
a system of Sultanate replaced this ideal system
following the resignation of Hasan, the Son of Ali ibn
Abi Talib, most of the Muslim rulers remained faithful
and obedient to the law and dictates of the Islamic
constitutional system. Lastly, through consultation
again, the people or their scholarly representatives
should be able to make the ruler abdicate when he
deviates from the Right Path.

Another article of the constitution provides for
freedom of opinion. Furtherance of virtue and
suppression of evil has been enjoined by Islam not
only as the right of Muslims, but their essential
duty. Freedom of conscience and speech is the pivot on
which the Islamic society and the administration
function in the right direction. The people have the
liberty to find fault with the most prominent among
the Muslims when they go astray, and have the right to
be out-spoken in all matters.

The last article of Islamic constitution which we
would like to mention in the narrow scope of this book
is that the Public Treasury is God’s property and a
Trust of the Muslims. Nothing should be received
except through lawful sources and nothing should go
out except for lawful purposes. The ruler enjoys only
so much jurisdiction over it as a trustee has over the
property of a minor orphan under his custody:

If
he is rich, let him abstain altogether, if poor, let
him consume it reasonably. (4:6)

The
ruler is bound to account for the income and
expenditure of the Public Treasury and the Muslims
have every right to ask him for a full account of
income and expenditure.